Johan Anglemark of Sweden, Fia Karlsson of Sweden, and Helena McCallum of the UK have declared they are running for TAFF, to travel to San Jose for Worldcon 76 in 2018. The voting deadline is April 3.For more information…

The Down Under Fan Fund (DUFF) is looking for candidates for this year’s race to travel from Australia/New Zealand to the United States to attend Worldcon 76 in San Jose from August 16-20, 2018. Candidates should contact either Paul Weimer or Clare McDonald-Sims and have two North American nominators and three Australia/New Zealand nominators. Each candidate should also have a 100 word statement and be able to put up a $25 bond. The deadline for declaring candidacies is January 31. Send e-mail to Clare McDonald-Sims at clare1701@warpmail.net or Paul Weimer at jvstin@gmail.com.For more information…

Following outrage about trademarking the phrase “Cosplay is not Consent”, Troy Doerner, CEO of Cosplay Deviants, has issued a statement that he will be legally abandoning the trademark.For more information…

The slogan “Cosplay is not consent” was trademarked by the website Cosplay Deviants in November 2016. There are reports that Cosplay Deviants are sending notices to conventions announcing their ownership of the phrase, but Cosplay Deviant states that they are not and have no plans to charge people for the use of the phrase.For more information…

Wizard World has announced that five of their cons scheduled for Fall 2017, in Biloxi MS), Peoria (IL), Springfield (MO), Montgomery (AL), and Winston-Salem (NC), have been postponed until 2018, although specific dates have not been announced. They’ve also added a show in Boise (ID) for 2018. Wizard World will now be holding seventeen shows in 2018.For more information…

MuseCon, a Chicago area convention focusing on art, maker-space, and filk, has announced that MuseCon 7, held August 4-6, was the final convention. The Board of Directors is discussing ways to continue to support MuseCon’s mission of supporting creativity.For more information…

The full nomination ballot for the 1956 Hugo Awards has been found by Olav Rokne who discovered the listing in the third progress report issued by NYCon II. The ballot is listed below. The winners appear first in each category.

Best Novel

Double Star, by Robert A. Heinlein

Call Him Dead, by Eric Frank Russell

End of Eternity, by Isaac Asimov

Not this August, by Cyril Kornbluth

The Long Tomorrow, by Leigh Brackett

Best Novelette

“Exploration Team,” (alt: “Combat Team”) by Murray Leinster

“A Gun for Dinosaur,” by L. Sprague de Camp

“Brightside Crossing,” by Alan Nourse

“Home There’s No Returning,” by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore

“Legwork,” by Eric Frank Russell

“The Assistant Self,” by P.L. Wallace

“The End of Summer,” by Algis Budrys

“Who?,” by Theodore Sturgeon

Best Short Story

“The Star,” by Arthur C. Clarke

“End as a World,” by F.L. Wallace

“King of the Hill,” by James Blish

“Nobody Bothers Gus,” by Algis Budrys

“The Game of Rat and Dragon,” by Cordwainer Smith

“The Dragon,” by Ray Bradbury

“Spy Story,” by Robert Sheckley

“Twink,” by Theodore Sturgeon

Best Professional Magazine

No shortlist of finalists was published in this category. The ballot instructions read “Pro mag names must be written in.”

Best Professional Artist

Frank Kelly Freas

Chesley Bonestell

Ed Emshwiller

Virgil Finlay

Mel Hunter

Edward Valigursky

Best Fanzine

Inside, edited by Ron Smith

(Science Fiction Advertiser, edited by Ron Smith)*

A Bas

Fantasy-Times

Grue

Hyphen

Oblique

Peon

Psychotic-SF Review

Skyhook
*Science Fiction Advertiser was not listed among the finalists on the ballot; however, the ballot for this year included spaces for write-in votes.

The Lunarians, the parent organization for Lunacon, have announced the decision not to hold Lunacon in 2018. The convention previously cancelled the 2015 convention, but held “creatively successful” conventions in 2016 and 2017. Lunarian President Stu Hellinger has stated that Lunacon needs to undergo a complete reevaluation of what it should provide the community. The first Lunacon was held in 1957.